Be the Best Student You Can Be
In many areas, schools are reopening next week. Teachers, parents, grandparents, and childcare providers everywhere will be encouraging the young people in their lives to do well in school and to be the best student they can be. But how many of us know we never really graduate from being a student? Those who are teachable are life-long students (see last week’s blog post to find out if you’re teachable).
I’m reminded of an assignment I once gave in one of my ministry school classes. The students were instructed to ask God what was the main reason they don’t understand the Bible better than they currently do and to write a one page paper about what He said to them. It was due the following week. I wish you could have seen their faces! I’m sure some that were in that class are reading this right now and reliving every emotion that flooded them the day the assignment was given. This was an assignment I had never given before, and as of today, I have never given since; but the lesson learned from it, I believe, is something we can all benefit from.
The night before the assignment was due, the Holy Spirit began to speak to me about some of the dilemmas the students faced in completing the assignment. Why don’t you pause right now and think about how you would have handled this assignment. Or better yet, stop reading right here and actually do it. That would mean your assignment is due one week from today. Once you’ve completed it, come back and finish reading what the Holy Spirit revealed to me.
Here’s what He showed me:
· If you went ahead and wrote your paper just so you could get it done, you have a WORKS ISSUE. You’re more concerned about checking off the boxes on your to-do list than allowing the Holy Spirit to check your heart.
· If you went ahead and wrote your paper because you already knew the reason you don’t understand the Bible better, you have a PRIDE ISSUE. Proverbs 3:7 clearly tells us, “Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God!”
· If you went ahead and wrote your paper without ever praying about it, you have a LORD ISSUE. When you get to the point where you feel like you don’t need to consult God, you’ve made yourself lord of your own life.
· If you went ahead and wrote your paper even though you never really got an answer from God, you have a PEOPLE PLEASING ISSUE. Galatians 1:10 suggests that if you’re focused on trying to please people, then you may have to question if you’re really a servant of Christ.
· If from the moment you saw the assignment you said to yourself, “I don’t hear from God like that,” you have a FAITH ISSUE. The Bible clearly says in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Either you believe that by faith or you don’t.
· If from the moment you saw the assignment you said to yourself, “I’m not good at writing papers,” you have a PERFORMANCE ISSUE. Colossians 3:23 says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” God’s not looking for a perfect performance. He just wants you to be willing to obey.
· If you asked somebody else what they thought your issue was and you wrote your paper about they said without ever confirming it with the Father, you have a SAVIOR ISSUE. In Exodus 20:3, God tells us we should have no other gods before Him. We have to stop looking to man to be our savior. There is only One who can save!
· If you actually prayed about it and waited to hear from God but you disagreed with what He said and then went ahead and wrote your paper based on what you thought, you have a SURRENDER ISSUE. This is where many of us deceive ourselves! We assume that because we’ve been obedient that we’ve surrendered. You can go through the right motions and still have the wrong motives. Just because man is pleased with your actions, doesn’t mean that God is pleased with your heart.
· If you prayed and prayed and prayed and said to yourself if you don’t hear anything by a certain date that you were going to go ahead and write the paper anyway, you have a PATIENCE ISSUE. We are instructed to be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him (see Psalm 37:7). We have to stop trying to put Him on our time schedule and start putting ourselves on His.
· If you prayed and waited until you heard from God, and you repented if you needed to, and you asked God what you needed to do differently, and when He answered you said okay, and you actually plan to do it, and then you wrote your paper – then YOU’RE RIGHT WHERE YOU NEED TO BE!
No matter what God-given assignment you may have right now, you may be dealing with one or more of these issues. Begin to see your time on this earth as priceless time in The Teacher’s classroom. Don’t just go through the motions. Take on every assignment He gives as if there were eternal ramifications. Address whatever issues you need to address so that you can be the best student you can be.
Questions to Ask
· Do you think God would consider you one of His best students?
· Which of these issues do you have a tendency to struggle with the most?
· What will you begin doing differently so that you can become the best student you can be?
Scriptures to Study
· Philippians 4:9
· John 14:26
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